Macri lands in Moscow with energy, agriculture on list of trade priorities

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President Mauricio Macri and his wife Juliana Awada travel to Moscow in January, 2018. | Télam

President Mauricio Macri will tomorrow meet with Russian business leaders in Moscow for a working breakfast that will kick off his first official overseas trip for 2018.

Macri arrived to Moscow on Sunday evening local time with his wife Juliana Awada. The couple were welcomed at Moscow airport by Russian officials. Macri will meet President Vladimir Putin late Monday at the Kremlin.

Macri is keen to revive trade between the two nations. In 2012, Russia-Argentine trade was valued at US$ 1.87 billion. In 2017, the figure dropped to US$806 million (excluding December, the data for which are not yet available).

Accompanying Macri on his trip to Russia, Switzerland and France are Argentina’s Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie, Energy Minister Juan José Aranguren and Agroindustry Minister Luis Miguel Etchevehere. In Moscow, the President will be shadowed by Argentine Ambassador to Russia Ricardo Lagorio.

The list of business leaders scheduled to meet the president and his team tomorrow morning in Moscow reflects the emphasis Argentina is putting on energy and agriculture, as well as on technology and infrastructure.

A meeting with Putin at the Kremlin among Argentine officials and their Russian counterparts is not expected to produce any major trade outcomes, Foreign Minister Faurie told La Nación. However, the meeting would act to reassure the relationship between the two countries with an aim at working toward trade deals further down the line, he said.